Whose Agenda are You On – Yours or God’s?

I was reading Luke recently and took note of a passage found in 4:42-44.  “At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place.  The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them.  But he said, ‘I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also because that is why I was sent.’ And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.”

To put this in context, the day before, Jesus had just healed Simon’s mother-in-law of the fever and healed many others as well.  So the word about Jesus was spreading like wildfire in the town where He was. It was like a wealthy man came to town handing out money and more and more people wanted to their piece of him (or more accurately, they wanted to get something from him). Yet, early the next day, Jesus got up and sought out from His Father what was on the Father’s agenda for Jesus that coming day.

But He was gaining so much notoriety in that town, surely He should have stayed to soak it all in, heal some more people, maybe get elected as the mayor of that town – after all no one else had come and made such a favorable impression.  No one else had such a positive impact on the people.  That is precisely the way many of us probably would have responded.  We may have said, “hey, it seems like I am really needed in this community – if I say for awhile, I can really do some good.” What we are really interested in is being noticed and looked up to by others.  Not that there is anything wrong with that, it is just that it is not how God wants us to decide how to spend our day!

Jesus gives us a lesson on how we should set our agenda each day.  Jesus began the day by spending time with His Father to hear what was on His Father’s heart.  That and that alone would establish His schedule for the day.  Notice what the people tried to do – “they tried to keep him from leaving them.”  They knew what a valuable person Jesus was and they didn’t want to let Him go or share Him with anyone else.  The people were focused on what they could get out of the situation.  But God had other plans and purposes. Jesus sought to see where the Father was working – that was His assignment for the day, and not what the people wanted Him to do. In the passage quoted above, Jesus said that His plans were different because He heard from His Father what was important for that day – and it wasn’t in the town where He was – it was elsewhere.

After the Resurrection, Peter and some others went fishing and were out all night. They didn’t catch anything.  Interestingly, there was no mention that they went to God beforehand to determine if that was what He wanted them to do that evening. The next morning, Jesus was on shore and after hearing that Peter didn’t catch anything, He said to drop the nets on the right side of the boat (See John 21:1-6). You remember what happened next – they caught so many fish, their nets were about to break!

Ask God each day for His revelation as to where He wants you to invest your time that day. Ask Him to let you know which side of your boat He wants you to drop the nets. Whatever you do in obedience to God’s agenda will produce far greater results that what you can possibly do on your own.

Do you seek out the Father each day and allow the Holy Spirit to set  your agenda for the day? Do you try to seek out where God is working?  Are you on the lookout for the people who may be seeking godly counsel?  Or are you too busy attending to what you think is needed to be successful today?

Listening Before Responding

"Spouting off before listening to the facts is both shameful and foolish." (Proverbs 18:13 NLT) This is a very insightful proverb and one that I often use even in secular environments. The key message here is to fully listen for all the facts before responding to someone. When we are in listening mode, we are the recipient of the communication. When we “spout off” it can be a sign that we are not listening to the speaker.

Spouting off might begin with a phrase such as, “Yeah, but…” Spouting off is usually a sign that you think your side of the story is more important than the other person’s side, or that what you have to say is more important or relevant that what the other person has to say. You are so intent on telling your side that you are not showing genuine care or concern for the other person. This leads to behavior Solomon calls “both shameful and foolish.”

When we respond before all the facts are spoken, we look like fools and our behavior is not endearing to the other person. As receivers of information we are instructed to fully listen to what is being said and to listen for understanding.

Listening before responding is sometimes a very hard habit to create; yet it is one that will have significant payoffs.  As a leader, you do not have to think that you know it all – as a matter of fact, those kind of leaders are viewed as arrogant and not at all servant-leaders. 

Tell us some ways that you practice listening before responding.